"So what'd Dumbledore want from you?" Harry asked as he hugged his sister,
in the muggy train station.
"Just to tell me I'm a Gryffindor." Chanse smirked, as she walked back to the car.
"What?!" Harry shrieked as he ran after Chanse.
"Yeah," Chanse laughed, "see the Sorting Hat couldn't decide whether to put me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and it was leaning towards Gryffindor. Well Dumbledore told it to put me in Ravenclaw because of you and me."
"Oh," Harry whispered, "So wait...YOU LIVE IN GRYFFINDOR NOW?!"
"Did you not understand, 'Dumbledore called me to tell me that I'm a Gryffindor'?"
"Sorry." Harry laughed.
~~~~~~~~~
"Home sweet home." Chanse laughed as she walked in through her farm house doors.
"Chanse supper will be ready at seven." Heather yelled from the kitchen.
"Ok." Chanse yelled back from her room.
Chanse set down her backpack next to her bed and sat down at it and stared out the window, 'I wonder what it's going to be like being a Ravenclaw for one year, and then becoming a Gryffindor for my last year?' Chanse thought.
"How am I going to tell the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?" Chanse sighed, "HOW AM I GOING TO TELL CHO?" Chanse shouted.
Chanse ran out of her room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, "Mom, can I use the fireplace?"
"Sure Honey," Heather walked out of the kitchen holding a small bag, "here's the powder." Heather handed Chanse the small sack, "Hey who you going to call?"
"I have to call Cho and tell her what happened." Chanse laughed, as she walked over to the fireplace.
She slowly gripped the bag, opened it up, slid her hand in it and gripped her fingers around a thing of powder, and tossed it in the fire, turning it from a pleasant red to a light blue, "Calling the Chang residents," Chanse said politely, and waited for a response.
Nothing...
"Calling Cho Chang." Chanse watched as Mrs. Chang's head appeared in the fire.
"Yes, who's calling?" Mrs. Chang looked around the house, "Oh hello Chanse."
"Hello Mrs. Chang, I was wondering if Cho's in?"
"Yes, hold on." Mrs. Chang's head disappeared, and Chanse heard a couple of muffled yells, in the background of the fire.
"Hello?" Cho head appeared in the fire.
"Hey Cho!" Chanse shouted, as she pulled a chair closer to the fire.
"Hey girl," Cho shouted back, "What's up?"
"Well...um...I don't know how to put this..."
"Obviously it's hard for you to tell me this. But you know you can tell me anything...Like everyone says your house is your family; we're like sisters."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Chanse looked down at her hands, which were laying on her lap.
"This doesn't sound good," Cho got a worried look across her face, "but usually when something's wrong I can point out what it is, but this time I can't read what's wrong..."
"Well...see...ok here we go," Chanse took a deep breath in and began to speak really quickly, "Dumbledore asked me to come and see him at Hogwarts today, and I went and then he told me that the Sorting Hat was deciding between putting me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Well it was leaning towards Gryffindor then Dumbledore told it to put me in Ravenclaw, fear of Harry and I finding out that we're brother and sister. Well Harry and I found out anyways, so Dumbledore called me back to resort me and I was resorted into Gryffindor..." Chanse stopped and caught her breath, "and that's why I'm calling you." She whispered.
"What?" Cho gasped.
"I said that..."
"I heard what you said," Cho snapped, "I just can't believe it...my sisters is leaving me."
"I'll never leave you," Chanse sighed, "I always have my Ravenclaw family and ties in my heart...where they'll never leave."
Cho nodded her head, "Well it was nice seeing your face again." Cho smiled, "I'll see you back at Hogwarts in a week."
"Chanse mails here!" Harry screamed as he walked back in the house, "You got a couple of letters."
Chanse turned back to Harry, "Thanks Harry," she turned back to Cho, "Cho I..."
"Got to go...I know," Cho sighed, "I'll see you later." Cho disappeared from the fire before Chanse could say anything.
"Cho?" Chanse whispered, but there was no response...the fire went back to red.
Chanse looked down at the ground, "She's hurt." She whispered. 'I'm technically not leaving her,' Chanse thought, 'I'm just not living with her anymore...Oh who am I kidding? I'm leaving her.' Chanse sighed, 'I don't want to, it's just that I should because Gryffindor is where I belong,' Chanse walked over to the couch and sat down, 'but Ravenclaw is where I belong too.'
"You ok Chanse?" Harry asked as he sat down on the couch and handed Chanse her letters.
"Yeah...it's just Cho...never mind." Chanse sighed.
"You can't help what the Sorting Hat chooses for you," Harry smiled, "you just have to make the best of what you're given."
Chanse looked down at the letters, and Harry got up and walked into the kitchen. 'You just have to make the best of what you're given' Harry voice echoed in Chanse's head.
"The best of what I'm given..." Chanse's voice trailed off.
She gripped her letters in her hand and walked upstairs to her room, where she locked the door behind her and sat down on her bed. "The best of what I'm given." She thought aloud.
She set the letters down on her bedside table, and walked over to her desk, and sat down. She opened her left hand drawer and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a ink bottle. She carefully opened the ink bottle, and dipped her quill in and wiped it on the edges of the bottle, and placed it on the parchment:
The Worst and Best of What I'm Given...
She labeled the page. She drew a line down the middle of the page, a line under the title, and a couple of space below the title she wrote 'Best' on one side, and then she moved her quill over to the other side and wrote, 'Worst'.
She began to scribble, under the column marked 'Best', things that were good about her being placed in Gryffindor.
When she couldn't think of anything else to put under that column she moved over to the other column, marked 'Worst', and began to scribble things that were bad about her moving to Gryffindor.
When she was done with her list she set her quill down on the desk, and bottled the ink back up and placed the quill and ink bottle back in the drawer.
She looked down at the parchment and placed her fingers on it and then raised them...the ink was dry. She picked up the paper and walked over to her bed, and began to read the reasons aloud, "Best...number one, being with my Gryffindor friends. Worst...number one, being away from my Ravenclaw friends...those cancel out..."
Chanse continued to go through the list of the best and the worst thing about being moved to Gryffindor. They all cancelled out except two reasons, "Best...number fifty-three, being with Harry. Worst...number fifty-three, being away from Cho. Best...number fifty-four, being with Oliver. Worst...number fifty-four, challenging Oliver for the spot of Keeper."
Chanse set her parchment down on her lap, and looked across the room at Geno, who was sitting in his cage. She picked the parchment up and placed it down on her bedside table, and saw the letters from the mail.
She picked up the letter and looked at the first one, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Kenmare Kestrels'. She set that letter down next to her left side and took the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Ballycastle Bats'. She set that letter down on top of the other one, and read the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Cuddley Canons'. She smiled and set that letter down on her right side and looked at the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Puddlemere United'.
Chanse picked up the two piles of letters, placing the left pile on top of the right pile and laying them down on her lap. She picked up the first letter from Kenmare Kestrels and began to read:
Dear Chanse,
We are writing you on behalf of the Kenmare Kestrels. We have seen your wonderful performance in your Quidditch matches at Hogwarts; we must say we were quiet delighted by it.
We know that you will be starting your seventh year at Hogwarts, and, from what we saw, you will continue to play Quidditch and more and more scouts will come and see you and want to sign you. We are sure that the other scouts from some of the other professional Quidditch teams have already pursued you about a professional career in Quidditch on their team...Well we would like to take this time out of your day to ask you to consider signing with Kenmare Kestrels, Irish Quidditch team.
We thank you, and wish you luck with your Quidditch career.
Kenmare Kestrels
PS
Enclosed in this letter is a photo signed by all the Kenmare Kestrels.
"Wow they were so proper with approaching me." Chanse laughed as she looked inside the envelope and pulled out a small picture and on it was the Kenmare Kestrels waving back at Chanse. She flipped over the picture and on the back were all the Kenmare Kestrels signatures. "I don't like the fact that they gave me such a proper letter, and picture," Chanse laughed, "It's almost like they're trying to buy me off...and as for the proper letter, it just means they might be just about winning and not for fun."
Chanse set the letter on her bedside table and thought aloud, "They'll probably make me wear pads." Chanse laughed as she opened the next letter in her pile, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Ballycastle Bats.'
Chanse read the letter and it was pretty much the same thing, except they sent six tickets to their next game.
Chanse set that letter on top of the Kenmare Kestrels letter and began to open the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Cuddley Cannons'. The letter went the same as the other two but the ending was different...
PS
Have fun this school year, and do what you believe would be the best for yourself...Also a tip is Puddlemere United is a major enemy and we know that Oliver Wood, indeed, did sign with them.
Food for thought, you could finally prove who's the better Keeper.
Chanse looked inside the envelope and there was no gift, "Well that's good that they didn't try to buy me off with something, but...the Oliver comment?" Chanse laughed.
Chanse set the letter on top of the other two, "They either were joking around with me, by meaning that Oliver and I would be like Romeo and Juliet...or they meant that since Oliver as definitely signed with Puddlemere that there wouldn't be room for another Keeper if Oliver's already there."
Chanse picked up the last letter and read the title, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Puddlemere United', Chanse stared at the letter, "Well if there wasn't room for another Keeper on Puddlemere why would they send me a letter?" Chanse laughed as she opened the letter.
June first,
"What's the date today Geno?" Chanse asked, as she looked at Geno from across the room.
'The third,' Geno screeched.
"Oh good."
'Of August, if you wanted to know what month, I can tell you the year too? It's...'
"AUGUST!" Chanse yelled, as she reread the date of the letter, "This letter was sent over two months ago!"
'I don't see the problem Chanse.' Geno sighed as he flew over to Chanse's bed.
"Oliver has already got his letter and sent it in!"
'I'm still not understanding.'
"Puddlemere probably sent, both, Oliver and I letters to sign, because we're both good. They just were going to leave it to whoever got their agreement letter in the fastest."
'The problem with both you and Oliver being asked to be on the same team...is?' Geno laughed.
"There's only room for one Keeper on a Quidditch team."
'What about the back-ups?'
"I don't want to be a damn back-up."
'Ok sorry I mentioned that.' Geno screeched as he flew back to his perch.
"Sorry Geno, just I knew that Kenmare, Cuddley, and Puddlemere wanted to sign me. So I did my research on the three of them, and some others too, and read about their maneuvers, coaches, teammates, wins, loses, determination, and the freedom that the players had."
'You did your research.' Geno laughed.
"Yeah I know. And out of ALL the Quidditch teams I researched I liked Puddlemere's ways...but now I can't join." Chanse whined.
'Well maybe you can write them a note saying you want to play for them but you don't want to be a back up, but you don't want them to drop Oliver either, so ask them to come up with a proposal for you...Try that.'
"You're a genius Geno!"
'I know.' Geno laughed as he swung back and forth on his swing in his cage.
"Just to tell me I'm a Gryffindor." Chanse smirked, as she walked back to the car.
"What?!" Harry shrieked as he ran after Chanse.
"Yeah," Chanse laughed, "see the Sorting Hat couldn't decide whether to put me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and it was leaning towards Gryffindor. Well Dumbledore told it to put me in Ravenclaw because of you and me."
"Oh," Harry whispered, "So wait...YOU LIVE IN GRYFFINDOR NOW?!"
"Did you not understand, 'Dumbledore called me to tell me that I'm a Gryffindor'?"
"Sorry." Harry laughed.
~~~~~~~~~
"Home sweet home." Chanse laughed as she walked in through her farm house doors.
"Chanse supper will be ready at seven." Heather yelled from the kitchen.
"Ok." Chanse yelled back from her room.
Chanse set down her backpack next to her bed and sat down at it and stared out the window, 'I wonder what it's going to be like being a Ravenclaw for one year, and then becoming a Gryffindor for my last year?' Chanse thought.
"How am I going to tell the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?" Chanse sighed, "HOW AM I GOING TO TELL CHO?" Chanse shouted.
Chanse ran out of her room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, "Mom, can I use the fireplace?"
"Sure Honey," Heather walked out of the kitchen holding a small bag, "here's the powder." Heather handed Chanse the small sack, "Hey who you going to call?"
"I have to call Cho and tell her what happened." Chanse laughed, as she walked over to the fireplace.
She slowly gripped the bag, opened it up, slid her hand in it and gripped her fingers around a thing of powder, and tossed it in the fire, turning it from a pleasant red to a light blue, "Calling the Chang residents," Chanse said politely, and waited for a response.
Nothing...
"Calling Cho Chang." Chanse watched as Mrs. Chang's head appeared in the fire.
"Yes, who's calling?" Mrs. Chang looked around the house, "Oh hello Chanse."
"Hello Mrs. Chang, I was wondering if Cho's in?"
"Yes, hold on." Mrs. Chang's head disappeared, and Chanse heard a couple of muffled yells, in the background of the fire.
"Hello?" Cho head appeared in the fire.
"Hey Cho!" Chanse shouted, as she pulled a chair closer to the fire.
"Hey girl," Cho shouted back, "What's up?"
"Well...um...I don't know how to put this..."
"Obviously it's hard for you to tell me this. But you know you can tell me anything...Like everyone says your house is your family; we're like sisters."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Chanse looked down at her hands, which were laying on her lap.
"This doesn't sound good," Cho got a worried look across her face, "but usually when something's wrong I can point out what it is, but this time I can't read what's wrong..."
"Well...see...ok here we go," Chanse took a deep breath in and began to speak really quickly, "Dumbledore asked me to come and see him at Hogwarts today, and I went and then he told me that the Sorting Hat was deciding between putting me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Well it was leaning towards Gryffindor then Dumbledore told it to put me in Ravenclaw, fear of Harry and I finding out that we're brother and sister. Well Harry and I found out anyways, so Dumbledore called me back to resort me and I was resorted into Gryffindor..." Chanse stopped and caught her breath, "and that's why I'm calling you." She whispered.
"What?" Cho gasped.
"I said that..."
"I heard what you said," Cho snapped, "I just can't believe it...my sisters is leaving me."
"I'll never leave you," Chanse sighed, "I always have my Ravenclaw family and ties in my heart...where they'll never leave."
Cho nodded her head, "Well it was nice seeing your face again." Cho smiled, "I'll see you back at Hogwarts in a week."
"Chanse mails here!" Harry screamed as he walked back in the house, "You got a couple of letters."
Chanse turned back to Harry, "Thanks Harry," she turned back to Cho, "Cho I..."
"Got to go...I know," Cho sighed, "I'll see you later." Cho disappeared from the fire before Chanse could say anything.
"Cho?" Chanse whispered, but there was no response...the fire went back to red.
Chanse looked down at the ground, "She's hurt." She whispered. 'I'm technically not leaving her,' Chanse thought, 'I'm just not living with her anymore...Oh who am I kidding? I'm leaving her.' Chanse sighed, 'I don't want to, it's just that I should because Gryffindor is where I belong,' Chanse walked over to the couch and sat down, 'but Ravenclaw is where I belong too.'
"You ok Chanse?" Harry asked as he sat down on the couch and handed Chanse her letters.
"Yeah...it's just Cho...never mind." Chanse sighed.
"You can't help what the Sorting Hat chooses for you," Harry smiled, "you just have to make the best of what you're given."
Chanse looked down at the letters, and Harry got up and walked into the kitchen. 'You just have to make the best of what you're given' Harry voice echoed in Chanse's head.
"The best of what I'm given..." Chanse's voice trailed off.
She gripped her letters in her hand and walked upstairs to her room, where she locked the door behind her and sat down on her bed. "The best of what I'm given." She thought aloud.
She set the letters down on her bedside table, and walked over to her desk, and sat down. She opened her left hand drawer and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a ink bottle. She carefully opened the ink bottle, and dipped her quill in and wiped it on the edges of the bottle, and placed it on the parchment:
The Worst and Best of What I'm Given...
She labeled the page. She drew a line down the middle of the page, a line under the title, and a couple of space below the title she wrote 'Best' on one side, and then she moved her quill over to the other side and wrote, 'Worst'.
She began to scribble, under the column marked 'Best', things that were good about her being placed in Gryffindor.
When she couldn't think of anything else to put under that column she moved over to the other column, marked 'Worst', and began to scribble things that were bad about her moving to Gryffindor.
When she was done with her list she set her quill down on the desk, and bottled the ink back up and placed the quill and ink bottle back in the drawer.
She looked down at the parchment and placed her fingers on it and then raised them...the ink was dry. She picked up the paper and walked over to her bed, and began to read the reasons aloud, "Best...number one, being with my Gryffindor friends. Worst...number one, being away from my Ravenclaw friends...those cancel out..."
Chanse continued to go through the list of the best and the worst thing about being moved to Gryffindor. They all cancelled out except two reasons, "Best...number fifty-three, being with Harry. Worst...number fifty-three, being away from Cho. Best...number fifty-four, being with Oliver. Worst...number fifty-four, challenging Oliver for the spot of Keeper."
Chanse set her parchment down on her lap, and looked across the room at Geno, who was sitting in his cage. She picked the parchment up and placed it down on her bedside table, and saw the letters from the mail.
She picked up the letter and looked at the first one, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Kenmare Kestrels'. She set that letter down next to her left side and took the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Ballycastle Bats'. She set that letter down on top of the other one, and read the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Cuddley Canons'. She smiled and set that letter down on her right side and looked at the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Puddlemere United'.
Chanse picked up the two piles of letters, placing the left pile on top of the right pile and laying them down on her lap. She picked up the first letter from Kenmare Kestrels and began to read:
Dear Chanse,
We are writing you on behalf of the Kenmare Kestrels. We have seen your wonderful performance in your Quidditch matches at Hogwarts; we must say we were quiet delighted by it.
We know that you will be starting your seventh year at Hogwarts, and, from what we saw, you will continue to play Quidditch and more and more scouts will come and see you and want to sign you. We are sure that the other scouts from some of the other professional Quidditch teams have already pursued you about a professional career in Quidditch on their team...Well we would like to take this time out of your day to ask you to consider signing with Kenmare Kestrels, Irish Quidditch team.
We thank you, and wish you luck with your Quidditch career.
Kenmare Kestrels
PS
Enclosed in this letter is a photo signed by all the Kenmare Kestrels.
"Wow they were so proper with approaching me." Chanse laughed as she looked inside the envelope and pulled out a small picture and on it was the Kenmare Kestrels waving back at Chanse. She flipped over the picture and on the back were all the Kenmare Kestrels signatures. "I don't like the fact that they gave me such a proper letter, and picture," Chanse laughed, "It's almost like they're trying to buy me off...and as for the proper letter, it just means they might be just about winning and not for fun."
Chanse set the letter on her bedside table and thought aloud, "They'll probably make me wear pads." Chanse laughed as she opened the next letter in her pile, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Ballycastle Bats.'
Chanse read the letter and it was pretty much the same thing, except they sent six tickets to their next game.
Chanse set that letter on top of the Kenmare Kestrels letter and began to open the next letter, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Cuddley Cannons'. The letter went the same as the other two but the ending was different...
PS
Have fun this school year, and do what you believe would be the best for yourself...Also a tip is Puddlemere United is a major enemy and we know that Oliver Wood, indeed, did sign with them.
Food for thought, you could finally prove who's the better Keeper.
Chanse looked inside the envelope and there was no gift, "Well that's good that they didn't try to buy me off with something, but...the Oliver comment?" Chanse laughed.
Chanse set the letter on top of the other two, "They either were joking around with me, by meaning that Oliver and I would be like Romeo and Juliet...or they meant that since Oliver as definitely signed with Puddlemere that there wouldn't be room for another Keeper if Oliver's already there."
Chanse picked up the last letter and read the title, 'To: Chanse Jackson. From: Puddlemere United', Chanse stared at the letter, "Well if there wasn't room for another Keeper on Puddlemere why would they send me a letter?" Chanse laughed as she opened the letter.
June first,
"What's the date today Geno?" Chanse asked, as she looked at Geno from across the room.
'The third,' Geno screeched.
"Oh good."
'Of August, if you wanted to know what month, I can tell you the year too? It's...'
"AUGUST!" Chanse yelled, as she reread the date of the letter, "This letter was sent over two months ago!"
'I don't see the problem Chanse.' Geno sighed as he flew over to Chanse's bed.
"Oliver has already got his letter and sent it in!"
'I'm still not understanding.'
"Puddlemere probably sent, both, Oliver and I letters to sign, because we're both good. They just were going to leave it to whoever got their agreement letter in the fastest."
'The problem with both you and Oliver being asked to be on the same team...is?' Geno laughed.
"There's only room for one Keeper on a Quidditch team."
'What about the back-ups?'
"I don't want to be a damn back-up."
'Ok sorry I mentioned that.' Geno screeched as he flew back to his perch.
"Sorry Geno, just I knew that Kenmare, Cuddley, and Puddlemere wanted to sign me. So I did my research on the three of them, and some others too, and read about their maneuvers, coaches, teammates, wins, loses, determination, and the freedom that the players had."
'You did your research.' Geno laughed.
"Yeah I know. And out of ALL the Quidditch teams I researched I liked Puddlemere's ways...but now I can't join." Chanse whined.
'Well maybe you can write them a note saying you want to play for them but you don't want to be a back up, but you don't want them to drop Oliver either, so ask them to come up with a proposal for you...Try that.'
"You're a genius Geno!"
'I know.' Geno laughed as he swung back and forth on his swing in his cage.